Review: Pantech Marauder for Verizon Wireless

The Marauder's screen boasts some fairly ho-hum specs. It measures 3.8-inches across the diagonal and includes 480 x 800 pixels. It's certainly not HD. That said, I think it looks really nice. The smaller size and lower resolution work well together, and text, icons, and graphics all look smooth. I had to hold the phone inches from my eyes to pick out any individual pixels. It's also plenty bright for indoor use, but suffered from the common sun glare problem outside that many phones do. I was able to use the camera easily enough, but checking the time had me angling the device away from the sun and seeking shade.

Signal

The Marauder performed on-par with other Verizon devices with respect to the network. The only time it dropped Verizon's network is when it should have -- when I was underground on the subway in NYC. All other times, it remained firmly attached to either the 3G or 4G network. The marauder connected all calls on the first attempt, and didn't drop any during my review period. Data performed to my expectations. It timed out once or twice when surfing the web in congested areas using the 3G network but never had any problems with the 4G network.

Sound

The Marauder is an excellent voice phone. All of the calls I made were completely devoid of interference and noise. Further, the earpiece produces plenty of power. The Marauder can be heard in most environments with the volume set at about 75%. Ramp it up all the way, and you'll be able to hear the Marauder over a noisy school bus or screaming kids with no problem. The speakerphone, too, is quite loud and free of distortion and noise. The Marauder could easily replace a standard desktop speakerphone for use in the boardroom. Ringers and alert tones can be set loud enough that if the phone goes off while you're in church, the Almighty just might reach down and smite thee. The vibrate alert is also quite strong.

Battery

Oh no, the Marauder's first real weak spot! The Marauder made it through a full waking day (7AM to about midnight), but not much past that. On some days, the battery was begging for mercy closer to 8 or 9PM. It's conceivable that if you're going out partying after work on a Friday night, you could run out of juice before you get home if you're not careful. The device doesn't allow the LTE 4G radio to be turned off, which could help, but it does have some power saver tools to help manage battery life Bottom line, charge it every night and keep an eye on power consumption the first few weeks until you can really predict its behavior.